Vaught (Going Underground) mixes mystery, friendship and an unusual narrative voice in her latest novel.
Self-proclaimed "Alphabets" because of the mental disabilities each of them possesses (ADHD, BPD), Jason, Sunshine and Derrick have been friends since Kindergarten and ride the "short bus" together. When Sunshine, a selective mute, never makes it home from the bus stop, Jason (aka "Freak") tries to solve the mystery, even as he's being questioned as a suspect. His schizophrenia causes him to lose touch with reality, and that complicates things. Jason describes it this way: "I talk great in my head, but I suck out loud, and sometimes because there's so much racket, I'm not good at staying on track or explaining what I see...." Unsure of what is a real memory and exactly what happened the day Sunshine went missing, Freak's inner monologue conveys his struggle as time ticks down and Sunshine gets farther from being found.
Vaught's ability to capture the voice of a teenager in such complicated circumstances--suffering from schizophrenia, missing a friend, solving a mystery, a suspect himself--feels authentic and compelling. What could have easily been a book just about schizophrenia has been expertly crafted into a story about a missing girl, the relationships among the Alphabets, and their connections to their friends and family. While readers may initially find it challenging to settle in with a narrator whose mind works so differently from their own, Freak's completely genuine voice and loyal actions will win them over. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit